Valve-movement for pumps



Patented July 26, |898.

2 Sheets-Sheet l.

"Hg B. GALE.

l VALV E MOVEMENT FR PUMPS. (Application led Mar. 10, 1894. Renewed Dec.23, 1897.)

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No. 607,845. Patented July 26, |898.

H. B. GALE.

VALVE MOVEMENT FOR PUMPS..

(Application filed Kar. 10, 1894. Renewed Dec. 23, 1897.) (No Modem 2Sheets-Sheet 2.

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IlNrTnn STATES PATENT @Tirion IIORACE B. GALE, OF SAN FRANCISCO,CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES C. VORTHINGTON, OF IRVINGTON, NEV YORK.

VALVE-MOVEMENT FOR PUMPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 607,845, dated July 26,1898. Application led March 10, 1894. Renewed December 23, 1897. SerialNo. 663,261. (No model.)

T all whom t may concern:

Be it knoWn that I, HORACE B. GALE, a citizen of the United States,residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvem en ts inValve-Movem en ts for Pumps; and I do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

The main object of the invention is to provide improved means forquickly seating pump-valves before the reversal of the motion of thepropelling mechanism, thereby obviating the shocks caused by the violentseating of the valves in an ordinary crank-and-iy- A Wheel pump When runat high speed and under heavy pressure. By thus enabling pumps doing anyduty, however heavy, to run smoothly and quietly at a high rotative andpiston speed a comparatively small pump is able to do the Work whichWould require a much larger and more expensive one equipped with theordinary valves.

The fundamental principle of my invention is to provide for theapplication of a denite and sufficient force to the pump valve to closeit quietly j ust before or at the instant of the reversal of motion ofthe piston, thereby preventing any backlow or slip of the uid throughthe port and the accompanying pounding of the valve to its seat, thevalve being left free at other times, so that it may oppose as littleresistance as possible to opening and to the passage of the iuid. Thedevices by which I carry out this principle are illustrated by theaccompanying drawings, in Which- Figure 1 is a sectional diagramexhibiting the elements of my invention disconnected from the remainderof the pump mechanism. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional elevation, andFig. 3 a horizontal section, on the line S S of Fig. 2, illustrating thedetails of construction and arrangement of a set of the valves and themethod of attaching them to the cylinder of a horizontal pump of thetype distinguished as having a single-acting suction and adouble-actingdelivery. Fig. fl shows the invention applied to thesuction and delivery valves of a vertical single-acting plun ger-pum p,and Fig. 5 is a vertical section and elevation illustrating itsapplication to a double-acting outside plunger-pump.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all theviews.

The principle of operation of the device may be explained With the aidof the diagram of Fig. 1, in WhichA indicates a pump-valve arranged soas to be opened in the usual Way by the pressure of the fluid underneathit compressing the light spring c. The upper end of the valve-stem g isconnected to a flexible diaphragm m, which forms one side of the chamberB. This chamber, which I call the pressure-chamber, is connected by thepassage D With the valve-chest t, containing a supplemental valve C.From the valve-chest t the passage F leads'to any convenient source offiuid under pressure-such as a steam-boiler, compressed-air reservoir,head of Water, or the like. The passage E leads to the atmosphere or tosomebody of iiuid under lower pressure. The supplemental valve Cisoperated by some suitable connection With the mechanism of the pump, and

according as it is moved to the left or right from its middle positionputs the port D, leading to the pressure-chamber, in communication withthe passage E or With the passage F. Thus the pressure applied to thevdiaphragm m and by it to the pump-valve A is varied by the operation ofthe supplemental valve. In the figure the mechanism is shown in such aposition that the chamber B is in communication with the port E, and thelpressure on the diaphragm is such as to permit the fluid driven by thepump-piston to lift the valve Afrom its seat andto flow through the portin the direction of the arrow. N oW if the motion of the pump-pistonWere to be suddenly reversed, the supplemental valve C remaining in theposition shown, a momentary reversed flow of fluid downward past thevalve A Would result before the spring c would have time to close it andthe valve would be driven to its seat with a violence depending upon thepressure lof the iiuid pumped and the rapidity of reversal of thepistons motion. To forestall this action, the supplemental valve C ismoved toward IOO Vthe right just previous tothe reversal ofthe motion ofthe pump-piston, soias to admit the Y fluid-pressure from passageFthrough thepassage D Vto the chamber B.V Y This pressure actvalve isalready closed. Before theV time for again opening the pump-valve Aarrives the Vsupplen'lental valve C hasmovedbaclr, soas Y to connect thepressure-chamber B2 with the Vexlnaust-pass'age E, thusV relieving theVpres- Y sure on the valve Aand allowing it toi be opened easily bythe'iluid as soon ias the mor i tion of the piston is again reversed.

With this device the speed of the closing movement ofthe-valve Aislimited bythe rapidity-with whichVth-e Y fluid Vcan enter Ythe chamberBg'and this can be regulated VbyaV throttle-valve in the passage For byadjusting the extent of opening of the valve C. The

time Vwhen the closing movement begins isV conditioned upon th'eitimeVVot'inove1nent 'ofV the supplemental valve' C andmay be con-V Y trolledVby'adjustingthe eccentric or other de-V phragm or equivalent deviceuponwhich theV vice bywhich that Vvalve'isV driven. The Vforce applied toVclose the valve'AV depends upon the'pressure of theuid admitted to theVpressure-chamber B and the area of Vthe dia- VVpressure acts, and byusing suitable proportions any Vrequired-forceV may be obtained.' Alltheelements affecting Vthe Vclosing of the pump-valve are thereforeunder control, and Vby adjustments readily made anydesired closingmovement may be produced.

This device isV applicableV to both the suction and delivery valves of apump and may be applied to either one or the other only or to both, asmay be preferred. A single supplemental valve is capable of controllingall the valves of a double-acting pump, as is illustrated in Fig. 5;but, if preferred, a number of separate supplemental valves may be used.

I do not confine my claim to any part-icular type of supplemental valveor mechanism for accomplishing the alternate admission and discharge ofthe working viluid to and from the pressure-chamber B, because it isapparent that a variety of mechanisms Well known in the art are readilyadaptable to the pur pose.

The diaphragm m is not an essential feature of the invention, and apiston or equivalent device may be substituted for it, or by properlyinclosing the back of the pump-valve A the fluid-pressure in the chamberB may be made to act directly on the valve itself.

In Figs. 2 and' 3 I have shown the details of 'a set of valves-suction,delivery, and supplemental-illustrating what I consider in most casesthe best mode of constructing them and lattaching them tov thepump-cylinder; also, in Figs. 4 and 5 two mechanisms for operating thesupplemental valve, attached, re-

spectively, to the rotating and the reci procating parts of themachinery.

livery-valveA, both controlled by thesame Y Fig. 2 shows a suction-valveA anda Vde-V Y Y 7VO Vtmpplemental valve@ and pressure-chamber Y sindicates Vthe suction-pipe connection,Y a passage in communication withtheV main Y Y Y chamber 7s of the pump-cylinder, (see Fig. 3,)

and h theV connection to the delivery-pipe.

The latter connect-s also tothe chamber jHof Vthe pump-cylindenwhich hasno valves. The

cross-section lof the Vplunger p'r'is made Vof about one-half thezareaof the main plunger p in order Vto give Von the delivery side the effectof adouble-actingpump; Y i Bothpump- Y valves have their stemsg andVgerrtended Vinto the Vpressure-chamber BV through cylin- Y Y dricalopenings, in which they lit loosely,so Y Y as to slideV freely :in andoutwhen the valves Vmove, and the latter are further Vguided by Y theradial platese', fitting theV sides of ithei 'port-openings.

i I prefergenerallyto make the valves with- Y Y V'out4 closing-springs,as .shownJ so that they may oppose as little resistance asV possible toi being limited by elastic buffers no and as. VIt

Y is generally most convenientV Valso to' employ Vthe fluid which isbeingpumped as therworke ing tluid for applyingthe necessary Vclosingforce Vto the pump-valves,V and-accordingly the admissionandV exhaustpassages Fand E Y Y Y Y are led Y from the supplemental-valve chamber15V respectively to the delivery-pipe h and fore,V connects Vthe'valve-chambert' with the plementalyalve Cin Fig. 2 is the-same as inFig. l, except that in Fig.' 2 this valve is of the rotary instead ofthe fiat slidevalve type. It is actuated by the rocking lever fn, whichderives its motion in any suitable Way from the pump mechanism.

One of the advantages of the construction shown in Figs. 2 and 3 is thatby this method the valves and pipe connections are all included in asingle cylindrical casing j, and these may be manufactured and fitted upindependent of the pumps to which they are to be applied,the samevalve-chest being applicable to a great variety of pump-cylinders. Thelatter have then simply to be provided with a flanged connection q onthe side or in some convenient place for bolting on the valvechest, asshown. The delivery-valve may be lifted out of the casing when the covert" is removed,and by removing the cover 1l access may be had to thesuction-valve, which may be taken out also after being detached from itsstem g,

The operation of the valves shown in Figs. 2 and 3 can be most readilyexplained by reference to Fig. 4, which has the advantage of showing allthe necessary mechanism in one View. The arrangement of the valves inFig. 4 is substantially as in Fig. 8, the only differ- Vthe flow of theYtluid, Vtheir lifting movements ico Y the suction-pipe s.VV TheVpassage-I), as be- Y Y Y y ence being that in Fig. at the valve-chestis the pump-cylinder 7o.

represented as cast in one piece with the pump-cylinder instead of beingbolted to it.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional elevation ot' a sin gle-actin gpump,whose plunger j? is driven by means of the crank w, the double beamy, and the connecting-links Zand Z. The rocking lever n, by which thesupplemental valve C is actuated, is connected by the rod r directly tothe main crank-pin o. The time and extent of the opening of the valve Omay be adjusted by means of the movable pin and the slot in the lever nor by shifting the angular position of the latter on the valvespindle.Suppose the rotation of the crank to take place in the directionindicated by the arrow, so that the plunger p in the position shown ismoving downward and forcing the iuid out of the pump-cylinder k throughthe,

annular passage u and the delivery-valve A', the suction-valve A beingclosed. The supplemental valve C is in its middle position, covering theport D, and as the small plungers formed by the valve-stems g and g arenot tight-fitting the fluid-pressure in the chamber B is now about thesame as that in As the plunger p approaches the end of its downwardstroke the rocking lever yn is moved downward and the supplemental valveC is rotated into a position which put-s the port D in communicationwith the port E. The fluid in the chamber-B can now escape into thesuction-pipe, and the pressure in chamber B is reduced to thesuction-pressure, so that the superior pressure on the top of thedelivery-valve A forces it to its seat- If the adjustments are properlymade, when the plunger p begins its upward stroke the delivery-valve Awill be closed. The pressure-chamberB being then in communication withthe suction-pipe, the suction-valve A experiences no resistance toopening. As the plunger p nears the top of its upstroke the supplementalvalve connects the chamber B with the delivery-pipe 7L, and the fluidentering the chamber B presses on the end of the valve-stem g and shutsthe suction-valve in the same manner as was eX- plained in connectionwith Fig. l. When the next downstroke begins, the suction-valve istherefore already closed, and the pressure in the chamber B is equal tothat in the deliverypipe, so that now the delivery-valveA experiences noresistance to opening. Injurious leakage into or out of the chamber Baround the valve-stems g and g can take place only while one of thepump-valves is in the act of closing, because at other times thepressure in the chamber B is the same as that in the pump-cylinder. Theloss of Huid in operating the valves in this way is believed to beconsiderably less than the loss from slip would be with valves closed inthe ordinary way.

Fig. 5 shows how a single supplemental valve C may be employed to governthe closing of all the suction and delivery valves of a double-actingpumpand illustrates-also a method of deriving the motion of' thesupplemental valve from the main piston-rod, which is applicableespecially to n on-rotative pumping machinery. A pair of pump-valves Aand A and an intermediate pressure-chamber B, arranged as in Fig. 2, areconnected to each end of the pump-cylinder. An additional port D is madein the supplementalvalve casing, and a separate connecting-passage leadsto each pressure-chamber. The action of the valves at each end of thedoubleaoting pump-cylinder is exactly the same as has been explained forthe single acting pump. The rocking lever n, which actuates thesupplemental valve C, is here driven by the rod o, which is providedwith adjustable tappets b and b', engaged by the block c, pivoted on theswinging lever Cl, whose lower end is linked to the cross-heady.

It being apparent that the form and arrangement of parts in my inventionare capa- -ble of' considerable variation Without departing from theprinciples involved in its operation, I do not confine my claimsstrictly to the specific forms and arrangements shown and described; but

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

l. The combination, in a valve-movement for pumps, of a casingcontaining induction and discharge valves and an intermediatepressure-chamber, independent plungers or their equivalents attached tothe said valves and enteringthe intermediate pressure-chamber, passagesconnecting the intermediate pressure-chamber with the fluid -spaces on,

respectively, the induction and discharge side of the induction anddischarge valves, and a supplemental valve mechanism controlling theflow of fluid through the said passages, substantially as set forth andfor the purposes described.

2. The combination, in a valve-movement for pumps, of a casingcommunicating with the Working cylinder and containing induction anddischarge valves'and an intermediate pressure-chamber, plungers orpistons formed by extensions vof the valve -stems entering saidpressure-chamber, and a supplemental valve mechanism actuated by thepump mechanism by which the fluid-pressure in said chamber is varied soas to accelerate the closing of the induction and discharge valves,substantially as set forth and for the purposes described.

3. The combination, in a valve-movement for pumps of a casing containinginduction and discharge valves and an intermediate pressure-chamber, plungers or pistons formed by extensions of the valve-stems entering saidpressure-chamber, and a supplemental valve mechanism and passages bywhich the fluid-pressure in said chamber is varied so as to acceleratethe closing of said suction and delivery valves, substantially as setforth and for the purposes described.

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4f. The combination With a pump-valve, ot`

a plunger or piston projecting from its lower or face side, a body ofiiuid applied to press upon said plunger or piston, supplemental valvemechanism controlling said body of fluid, and means for actuating saidsupplemental valve mechanism to vary the pressure of said body of fluidupon said plunger or piston, substantially as described.

5.` The combination with a pump-valve, of a plunger or piston projectingfrom its lower or face side, a body of iiuidapplied to press upon thesaid plunger or piston, and a supplemental Valve mechanism, operated byconnection With the pump, whereby the pressure ot the said body of fluidis varied so as to accelerate the closing of thesaid pump-valve,substantially as set forth.

6. The combination, in a valve-movement for pumps, of an induction-Valveand a discharge-Valve eommunicatingwith the pumpcylinder on the sameside of the main plunger, a pressure-chamber distinct from thepumpchamber containing a body of iiuid which presses upon the saidValves in a direction tending to close the induction-Valve and to openthe discharge-valve, and means of varying the said pressure during thestrokeof the pump, so as to accelerate the closing ot' each of saidvalves, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination, in a valve-movement for pumps, of an induction-Valveand a discharge-valve communicating with the pumpcylinder on the sameside of the main plunger, a pressure-chamber distinct from thepumpchamber containing a body of fluid Whose pressure is applied to thesaid valves in such a Way as to tend to close the induction-Valve and toopen the discharge-Valve, and a supplemental Valve mechanism operated byconnection with the pump, whereby the said pressure is varied so as toaccelerate theclosing of each of said valves, substantially as setforth.

' 8. The combination with the induction and discharge valves A, A' andintermediate pressure-chamber B, of plungers g, g' acting on said valvesA, A and acted upon by the fluid in the chamber B, and a Valve mechanismfor alternately admitting and discharging fluid from saidpressure-chamber, substantially as set forth and for the purposesdescribed.

9. The combination with the valves A, A and intermediatepressure-chamber B, of plungers g, g acting on said valves and actedupon by the Huid in said chamber, passages E, F, a valve-chamberconnected with said pressure-chamber and passages E, F, and a Valvemechanism for connecting said chamber with the fluid on the suction anddischarge sides of the pump-valves alternately,substan tially as setforth and for the purposes described.

lO. In a double-acting pump, the combination With the plungers 1o, ot'induction and discharge Valves A, A and intermediate pressu rie-chambersB for the respective plungersp, plungers acting on said valves and actedupon by the fluid in said chambers, a valve mechanism controlling theadmission and discharge of fluid from each of said pressurechambe1s,andpassages E,F controlled by said valve mechanism to connect saidpressurechambers With the :tluid on the suction and discharge sides ofthe pump-valves alternately, substantially as set forth and for thepurposes described.

In testimony Whereotlaffix` my signature in lpresence of two Witnesses.HORACE n. GALE.

Witnesses:

HENRY C. MULLIGAN, ISAAC GALE.

